A Star Is
Born (1954) Directed by George Cukor Artistic & Entertainment Value½

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Synopsis When Norman Maine (James Mason), a drunken
movie star, hears Esther Blodgett (Judy Garland), a singer in a band,
performing, he realizes that she could be a sensation. Having subsequently
introduced her to the boss of his studio, who renames her Vicky Lester, Norman
continues to help her career, all the while falling in love with her.
Unfortunately, although the two eventually get married, as Vicky's fame
increases, Norman's begins to fade.

Analysis George Cukor's A Star Is Born is a
generally entertaining and surprisingly tragic musical that is never quite as
captivating as it could have been.

Unlike many other films that were being made at roughly the same
time, which are often painfully cheerful and falsely sentimental, A Star is
Born is pervaded with a sense of profound loss and sorrow. While the
beginning of the movie is filled with hope, with a sense that something
wonderful is awaiting the protagonist, there are, even in these scenes,
elements which make the viewer aware that her happiness is linked to Norman's
and that his life cannot but end badly. The joy the moviegoer feels while
watching the movie's earlier scenes is, consequently, mingled with an
anticipation of terrible sufferings to come.

When these fears are realized, when Norman's drinking does
eventually destroy his life, feelings of despair and regret come to dominate
the movie. The viewer is thus able to experience both Vicky's sadness and the
tragedy of her husband's gradual decline with a real poignancy. Instead of
succumbing to a shallow, unaffecting optimism, A Star is Born is a
genuinely dolorous movie.

What is more, although much of the film is visually pedestrian,
it does include a few lavish and fetching sets. Those used in a series of
musical numbers performed as a part of the movie in which Vicky Lester makes
her screen debut are especially nicely done. Dispensing in these sequences with
an adherence to some dull realism, Cukor has placed the character Lester plays
in a series of stylized locations, in which she acts out various vignettes and
narrates these in song. There is hardly one of these sets that is not
appealing. In fact, the scenes from Vicky Lester's movie are perhaps the most
enjoyable in A Star is Born.

I should at this point note that the film is likely to thrill
Judy Garland's admirers. Not only does she acquit herself well as an actress,
but she also performs a number of songs over the course of the movie, all of
which are pleasant to hear. I will concede that I have never fallen under her
spell, but I have no doubt that those who have will find much in the film to
please them.

Regrettably, A Star is Born is by no means without flaws.
It is somewhat too long and does, frankly, occasionally grow tiresome. A few
themes are simply allowed to play out at far too great a length and do bog the
story down. Norman's efforts to rehabilitate himself, for example, are so
extensively presented that they interrupt the flow of the narrative. These
scenes should have been considerably shortened. The movie is rarely boring, but
its pacing may test many viewers' patience.

Even though A Star is Born never attains greatness, it is
a well made, affecting, and entertaining film.